O.K., the Pirates are a really bad team. And, the Yankees should beat them, easily. So, sure, I can see where some might not get all jazzed-up about the last three games. However, given the way the Yankees have played, at times, this season, anything is possible – including losing games to the Pirates. Therefore, as we know that the team with the most talent and/or biggest payroll does not always win, I’m happy to see the Yankees take these last three games.

Here’s a question for you: Can A-Rod have a “June” bigger than his “April” this year? Well, he’s on pace to have a bigger one. Imagine that?

Together, A-Rod and Abreu have been a two-man wrecking crew during this recent Yankees streak. It’s fun to watch. And, if they keep going like this, until the end of the year (and if Alex opts out), it’s going to give the Yankees two interesting contract decisions this off-season.

But, perhaps the bigger question for the day, in Yankeeland, is Tyler Clippard. He was great in his first start, shaky in his second and third start, improved in his fourth start, and then just ugly today (in his fifth start).

The agents for Runelvys Hernandez and Kei Igawa are probably watching all of Clippard’s starts and texting away at Brian Cashman like mad. I hope that Tyler starts pitching better and keeps those two down at Triple-A. And, when I say “better” I mean six innings (plus) per start and keeping the other team to three or four runs (or less). I still think Clippard can do it. But, time is running out for him to prove it.

Comments on June 10th vs. The Pirates

While I think Igawa still has a chance to be a halfway decent starter, Hernandez doesn’t. He’s a Wayne Franklin/Darrell May type, nothing more. He can fill a rotation spot in Scranton, but I don’t want to see him anywhere near the Yankee Stadium mound.

Clippard had a bad start today, but at least he’s capable of pitching well, and has the potential to be a very good Major League pitcher. You can’t really say that about Hernandez.

Yeah, that’s the biggest downside to being a rookie. You’re not allowed to have a bad game. As soon as you do, people think you suck.

I would be shocked if Hernandez pitched for the Yankees this year. Shocked beyond all belief, actually. Igawa is a different story. He had a really good start for SWB and they did pay a lot of money for him. If Clippard gets another start — which unfortunately is already in question — and doesn’t pitch well, he’ll be back in AAA before the game ends.

The D’Backs actually held a lead today and beat the Red Sox. So the Yankees are 9 1/2 games back now. (Randy Johnson went six, gave up 1 ER, struck out nine.) The D’Backs gave one away the night before. The Sox are just 4-6 over their last ten games. It should really be 3-7, and there was the 1-0 win over Oakland in there. You can make the case that they’ve struggled since the Yankee series. With Schilling and Beckett (and to a lesser degree Mats) I don’t think they’ll go into any prolonged losing streak, but Yankee fans kept waiting for a “market adjustment” — and maybe this is it.

It’s really not going to take that much. we’ve seen a five game swing over the last 10 or 12 games simply by the sawks going 4 and 6 or 3 and 7 while the Yanks go 8 and 2. the sawks are not going to finish with a .645 percentage unless you think like Steve that they’re going to win 105 games…. or “choke” because they don’t…. ;-]

they had a good start they’ll finish with 90 games or so in the win column.

Happily our 3 and 7 and 4 and 6 days are behind us. give us another 8 and 2 or 7 and 3 and we’ll be 4 and 1/2 games behind and you can start reading who-lost-china articles in the boston globe sports pages. I really want the boys to fulfill my 18 and 3 prediction.

Did you hear that mariano has been working with vizcaino? that’s a championship team. i’m hoping Henn can stick this time.

abreu makes such a huge difference on this team. he started out pretty good in april, didn’t he? at least he didn’t stink and that helps arod alot. he must be seeing 25-30 pitches in a game, seems like the count is always 3 and 2 and he fouls off a couple for good measure before he hits — and arod is watching them all.

While I DEFINITELY agree that Abreu has a lot to do with A-Rod’s hitting, you have to give A-Rod some credit on his own. His first hit today was a home run off Sharpless, who came in just after Abreu’s at bat. He saw only the pitches he received from Sharpless, having nothing to do with Abreu’s previous at bat.

However, it was Abreu’s hit that brought Sharpless in in the first place. So there’s Abreu’s hand in that.

This was a great game to watch–aside from a rough 4th inning for Clippard, it was nice to see the bullpen come through, as well as the defense and of course the offense. And I, for one, am glad that no one, including myself, got terribly hurt with the Jason Giambi replica bat given to every under 14 year old in the joint.

A small aside–there was a Pirates fan in the bleachers. Well, there were a few, but I’m only talking about this one. My seats are in the front row, so I see pretty much everyone walking by. He saw a group of kids with bats and said “That bat should have come with a syringe!” Now, if you want to trash talk–fine. But is that not incredibly inappropriate to say to a group of kids?